The Inevitable End
by Platinum Pair
Summary: The year is 2028 and the Third World War had taken more lives than anyone could comprehend.  Niou jumps back and forth from the past and present in an attempt to make sense of his life.  He thought that he lost it all but it turned out he still has more.


I take no credit whatsoever for the characters Niou and Yagyuu since they belong to Konomi. The plotline and other characters are my creations though.

**The Inevitable End**

I remember a world where people were at peace and the malevolence of war was not ready to manifest itself at every turning corner. But nothing can ever stay that way... not forever. The war broke out in 2028. The races of the world blew up with anger at each other without a moment's notice. It was simply a war fought in order to gain superiority. From the colossal first battle, there was a total loss of 10 million lives and at the end of the devastating 8-year war, there were 400 million people dead or wounded and another 50 million missing. To this day, those still alive are restlessly searching for their lost family members and lovers. The war was fought for naught. It was only around the 350 million mark that everyone noticed that the war was getting out of hand. All the countries signed treaties with each other, but the racial tensions between some were still not gone. The only thing accomplished with this war was a realization of who was better than others in their minds. It was with this war that I lost everything I held dear in life.

My father once told me, "War is a horrible thing. You should be glad that you never have to fight in one." He died of cancer shortly after he had told me that. I'm glad that he died before the war had begun. The war would have taken his life from the shock that it spread across the world. There was not one soul that was safe from the universal horrors of the war dubbed "Genus Belli."

I grew up in Tokyo in a middle-classed family. My father and mother were owners of a small restaurant that was frequented by the families of the neighborhood. The shop stayed traditional despite the millions of technological changes that every thing else was going through. The food was still hand-made, chairs made from the wood of the Cherry Blossom trees dating back to WWII and he still hired waiters to serve the customers. I would work there after school each day as a waiter to gain the experience when they eventually passed the restaurant onto me. I served the rich at their tables, while out the back door I would sneak food to the poor. Class meant nothing... if they passed by searching for food then I found myself compelled to feed them. My father had known; he never mentioned it to my mother though. One day before I left the restaurant to go back home he gave me a platinum charm with the word "protection" engraved into the middle of it. It wasn't that much later that he lost his life to the cancer battle that he fought all alone.

I was 18 the year he lost his final stand against cancer. It didn't matter how advanced the cure for cancer was; it still was capable of taking out millions a year. I don't know why, but the tears never found their way from my eyes to the ground at the funeral. It wasn't until I walked down the desolate street to my father's restaurant that I broke down into tears. Every single thing in there reminded me of my father. His altruistic smile when he served the customers, how he used to take me there everyday to play with the neighborhood kids, the steaming bowls of noodles that he put his heart and soul into making and most of all were the life lessons that I learned in that shop. My father always told me that the best skill a person had would be to be the ability to read people. I pulled my drained body onto the counter that he always sat at and continued to let the tears flow endlessly from my deep brown eyes. I ended up crying myself to sleep and found a thin blue blanket with deep blue irises framing the edges draped across my slender shoulders when I woke up the following morning. Little by little... things began to change colossally... whether I liked it or not.

I hear an obnoxious ringing in my ear as I shift to my right side. My arm searches for the source of noise that had interrupted my precious beauty sleep. In the process, I knock over a small picture that holds great sentimental value. My arm stops when it comes into contact with the iPhone residing on my bedside table. I pick it off the table and put it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Masaharu-kun, I'm hoping that you didn't forget the lunch date we set up the other week at the noodle shop downtown." A voice called to me. It was a low tenor and held a sense of sincerity that was not often found in people.

I knew he had known where I was currently residing, but decided to not make a big deal of it. "Of course not. You called at the right time 'Roshi. Just give me a minute to finish getting dressed," I answer lazily into the phone. The phone was still snuggled between my shoulder and ear as I got my jeans on. I pick the photo off the ground and place it back into it's appropriate spot. Her smile still shown like Sirius of the winter sky.

"At least open the door for us," he said patiently. "Mika and I have been waiting for a good 10 minutes out here on your stairs."

I stride over to the door trying to get my t-shirt on, but to no avail. I give up and throw it onto the ground before opening the door for my friend. My hands run from atop the doorway and throw open each of the locks with ease. The same ease that I would've liked to have when trying to get my shirt on.

My friend stood on the other side with his fiancee. His light brown hair gave off a slight tinge of red when the sunlight hit it just right at parts. His chocolate eyes were shielded by a pair of thin simple glasses. He was dressed in a soft green Burberry polo with the top two buttons unbuttoned to reveal the appearance of solid muscles underneath. The white True Religion skinny jeans that he had on stretched his already long legs and gave them the appearance that they went on for miles. His black boots shone and were currently finding themselves being unlaced. He had the gentlemanly charm that my mother loved, but I could never give to her.

He introduced his fiancee to me as they walked into the house. While he was doing that, she eyed me from top to bottom. Her dark eyes made contact with mine only for a short torturous moment. Her charcoal black hair was let loose and hung a few inches below her shoulder blades. The eyeliner on her eyes lengthened her eyes and gave them a mysterious feeling, while her lips were the color of a poisoned red apple. She wore a short white sundress with black Versace heels. My mother would have shunned me from the house if I ever came home with a girl like that.

"Just have a seat at the counter or something. I'll get something respectable on and we'll head to lunch," I left them in my kitchen. I rush into my bathroom, brush my teeth, take a quick shower and clean up my face. My hair was still dripping with water when I came out into the kitchen to see Hiroshi washing the dishes that I had left there from the night before. "You really don't need to. I was going to throw them into the dishwasher as soon as I had gotten up."

"I'm pretty sure that you would've just left them there until mold started to grow."

I didn't see any sense in arguing with him; I simply took a clean towel from the rack and dried the dishes off as he handed them to me. Something that we had often done together when we worked for my father. I ran back into my room to see Mika with a red towel in hand. She pushes me down onto my bed and begins to dry off my hair.

"Hiroshi never pays any attention to me. It's like he only asked me to marry him in order to fulfill his parents wishes," she whispers into my ear. She runs her fingers across the lengthy scar; I sported after the war. It ran from the right side of my neck all the way to my left shoulder blade. I pull away quickly before she was able to run the entire length. "I wonder if he knows that I'm in love with another man."

"I'm a married man, so I'd rather not be in this position. I'm sure that Hiroshi loves you more than you think. He's actually a very caring person even though he doesn't show it." I didn't know what else I could have responded with. My bangs stuck to my forehead in a rambunctious mess due to the fact that it was not dry and the summer heat did nothing to help it. I always hated summer with a passion. My clothes clung uncomfortably to my skin. The Sakura blossoms had all begun to fly into the wind into places unknown. And it always gave people that unfound confidence to do things that they never would.

"I don't see you as a married man; I think that you would be a great lover though," Mika was about to approach me again until she saw Hiroshi walk into the room. She didn't say anymore, but pranced past him and ran her finger across his chest. She kisses his cheek flirtatiously before she leaves the room. There was minuscule silence until Hiroshi spoke.

"I really do apologize for her." Hiroshi said quietly to me. He glances over at the small picture on my nightstand and gave a soft sigh. I give him my signature trickster smirk that haunted females all across our high school. There was only trouble behind the face that showed it.

I knew that he just wanted to walk away from his parents expectations and live life his way, but his parents were like a stone that continually pulled him into the depths of the abyss. He and I had been friends for ages. I knew him better than I knew myself. He was one of those people that would make his family and friends happy before himself. But one day, I really believe that he'll break free of those stones and make himself happy... even if it meant drawing the ace of spades.

When I was 18 years old; I found the first and only love of my life. The day after I cried my eyes out in my father's restaurant I went to find the owner of the unknown blue blanket. The only lead that I had to go off of was that the name Nana was inscribed onto the left edge of the blanket. I knew only one Nana, but she always avoided me when I went over to study with her brother. I got onto my silver motorcycle and sped off down the busy Tokyo streets in search of another clue. The endless stream of lights during the midnight life of Tokyo gave the city the feeling that it never slept. It had become another city of lights. I ran down every alleyway, street and unknown territory for a whole week to no avail. There was no other lead that I could go off of, so I just found myself lying back on the counter with the blanket.

I fell asleep clutching onto the soft blankets in hope that the owner would come into the restaurant and reclaim it. I only fell 20 minutes into my nap when I felt something resting at the edge of the blanket. I thought it was just our snow-colored kitty looking for a place to rest; until I reached up to stroke it and found myself grasping onto a thin, smooth and womanly hand.

I peeked through the wall of hair covering my face to discover a girl with her hand covering her mouth and in quite a bit of shock. I let go of her hand, but made sure that she wasn't going to just run away. I asked, "Nana-chan?"

She nodded her head slowly. "I heard from my older brother that you were looking for me, but I decided that I would rather come back myself, then have you find me." She put her hand out to grab the blanket, and I did the same only to grasp her hand. She blushed a cherry pink when my hand made contact with hers. She tried to pull back, but I wouldn't let her go.

"Why didn't you let me know it was you before?" I asked her.

"I was afraid I was going to fall in love with you." Her eyes lit up with the innocence of the stars in the sky when she finished her sentence. It was now that I got a clear view of her petite face. Her eyes were a typical single-eyelid but they had widen to show clear brown irises. The luscious lips looked at me with purity. All I wanted at that moment was to steal those lips for myself.

I smirked at her answer, "I think I fell in love with you first Nana-chan." In one fluid motion, I pulled her down to my level and stole her lips. I knew that when I kissed her that she would be the one that I would spend the rest of my life with. Our lips fit like the last two pieces of a puzzle that had been waiting to find each other. I thought about deepening the kiss, but decided against it. We pulled away from each other. The blanket was long forgotten on the counter. It wasn't soon after when the war began to rear it's . No one person was to escape from the draft. This wasn't just a war for economic power, but one to show superiority. It's colossal impact would be felt around the entire world.

… One autumn morning, eight years before, I sat outside of Nana's house waiting for her to come out. She had called me earlier in the day because she knew that I was going to go off to war soon. I had meant to tell her about the draft letter, but I was just waiting for the right time. To my dismay, she had seen it one day when she was cleaning up the shop. The letter had dropped to the ground. I couldn't hide it from her any longer, so I let her open it up. There were no words exchanged between the two of us that day. She merely gave me a hug stained with pain before she left the restaurant. I tried to tell her that it was definitely going to be okay, but then I'd be lying. I didn't want to lie to the one person that held so much trust in me.

"Hello, Masaharu!" Nana greeted me. She was uncharacteristically happy even though there was a terrible demon of worry looming overhead her. On her petite five-foot frame was a lavender Cookie 7 pompom knit sweater that practically swallowed her torso. The bleached Rock & Republic skinny jeans fit her like a glove. It stretched out her thin legs and turned them into an endless road. I looked at what I had on and brushed it off as a coincidence that our clothing matched so perfectly.

I gave her a weak smile. "Yo Nana. You okay?" I probably had made the worst decision of my life when I asked her that. She seemed to be unaffected, so I took her petite hand into my larger one and we began walking down the street.

We walked for what seemed to be an infinite amount of time around the abandoned plaza until we stopped at an empty bench. She sat down on the bench and motioned for me to sit down as well. I wanted to break the invisible wall of tension that had build up between us, but I didn't know just how to do it. She did it for me.

"You know, I'm really going to miss your unruly silver hair to play with, your deep brown eyes and that small mole resting on your chin. I'm going to miss when the neighbors say that we're more like siblings than a couple. I'm going to miss how we always dress so alike as though there's a telepathic string connecting our minds. I'll miss when I'm sad that you only hold me against your chest and rub circles into my back. And how you always throw me over your shoulder when you're especially happy that day. But what I'll miss most is you." Nana didn't look at me for a moment when she said that. Her eyes were focused only on her trembling fingers.

I took those trembling hands back into my own, rubbing them softly. I knew that this would be my last moment before the war tore us apart from each other.

"Then marry me," I said.

"Wait, repeat that again?" She asked incredulously.

"I asked you to marry me. This way we'll be tying our red string of fate together forever. Even if I don't see you again in this life, then we'll see each other again in our next lives," I held out the thin silver band that I'd been fiddling with all week.

Her immaculate face was marred with a single teardrop from each eye. She held her right hand over her mouth in shock. I guess that she was saying yes when she let me slide the ring onto her left ring finger. "Yes, yes."

"I promise that I'll come back from the war. I'll come back an even cooler guy than I am now. All you need to do is wait for me." I gave her my signature smirk.

"That's so lame!"

"But ya love this lame guy, don't cha?"

"I already accepted your ring, so you don't need to give me your country-side accent."

"Just because you're a natural born Tokyo-girl doesn't mean anything." She started laughing and I followed after her.

We stopped laughing when paper started to fall from the sky. Nana picked one up and started to read. "All males currently living in Tokyo are to head to the eastern front as soon as the month is over. But that's only a week from now." She placed the paper onto the bench with a forlorn hope.

I squeezed at her shoulder softly and let her lean her head onto my shoulder. I thought that I had vanquished the demons when I proposed to her, but they had begun to show themselves once again. "Don't you worry your little self. I'll make sure to come back in one piece."

Shortly after that, the month came to an end. We had been married along with three other couples on the morning that the grooms would head off to war. She wore a simple white dress, while I had on my pressed Air Force uniform: the only thing that I would be wearing for the next eight years. Once the rings had been exchanged, the kisses shared and the last words said, the men headed into the planes with all of their equipment. Before I boarded the plane, Nana loosely tied a red string onto my pinky finger. She held up hers to show an identical one. She kissed me passionately on the lips, as though it would be the last time our lips would ever meet again. When she pulled away, she said, "We're always going to be together, Niou Masaharu."

I dreamt of a wasteland. It was the wasteland of my last battle in the war. The enemy had bombarded me with bullets but to their surprise I could maneuver a jet better than any of their top pilots. There were bodies strewn everywhere. The bombs had stopped going off ages ago, although you never knew when you were going to step into one. I was stopped by an elderly lady who was breathing her last breath. "Come here young one," she crooned. I stopped and listened. She touched my hand and the memories all rushed through me. I woke up with a start. My face and hair were dripping with cold glistening sweat. The scar on my neck began to hurt after such a long time. Whenever I fall asleep, all the memories I want to forget come flooding back, of all those who died, when I didn't. I yell from the balcony of my house why when the memories become overbearing. Why did everyone I care about die even though we had promised that not even death would separate us?

It wasn't too long after my meeting with Hiroshi that I recieve a rather glamorous invitation in the mail. The letter cordially invited me, Niou Masaharu to the wedding between Yagyuu Hiroshi and Nagakura Mika. There were other details in there that I didn't bother to read. I look back into the envelope to see a letter. When I open the letter, it was a personal request from Hiroshi asking me to borrow my motorcycle to make a grand appearance at their wedding. It wasn't characteristic of him to want to make a grand entrance, but I wasn't going to question it. I dial his number from memory into my phone.

"Hello?" He answers. His voice seemed a little nervous.

"Yo, I got your invitation this morning. Thought I'd call and chat."

"It's not too big a deal; I was just hoping you'd be there."

"How can I not be there for you when you were there for me during my darkest hour?" I told him.

"I'm really thankful for you Masaharu-kun."

"It's no big deal at all. We're practically brothers. And if you're my brother then you've got to go out with a bang," I chuckle into the phone. I hear him start to laugh as well. It was probably the first time in my life that I heard him laughed so freely. We laugh like that together until he had come to an abrupt stop. I ask, "Hey, what's up?"

"It's nothing important. I'll see you on the wedding day. Remember, it's this Saturday. I'll meet you outside of your place for the keys to your baby." There was a loud beep followed by a transitory moment of silence before I throw my iPhone onto the unkempt bed. I knew that there was something going on, but I didn't want to make it any worse than it already might have been.

He didn't call me anymore after that awkward ending. I pull out the designer suit that I bought for my own wedding; although didn't get the opportunity to wear. It was still as perfect as it had been the day I had it tailored. The crisp lines, smooth fabric and that way that it accentuates only what was necessary emphasizing how unchanging I was after all these years. I grab a skinny black tie from my closet along with a pair of ruby cufflinks. I glance into the mirror one last time before I leave my house. My silver hair was brushed back to reveal my forehead and tied into a small ponytail. The mole on my face stood out more than usual, but I was pleased overall with my appearance. I rummage through the drawer and take out the keys to my motorcycle. The ace of spades charm was still hanging on there.

I saw Hiroshi standing out there even more impeccable than the norm. There was an air of anxiety swarming him, but that was to be expected. He was dressed in a black Versace suit, silver shirt, and black-colored tie. He smiles at me when he sees me rushing down the stairs. I ask him, "You know that this is it, right?"

"I'll make the best of it."

I toss him the keys to my bike and pull a smoke out from my shirt pocket. I take a lighter out as well. I light it, take a drag and offer it over to Hiroshi. He has a apathetic facade as the cancer stick passes from my hands to his. Once he takes a drag, he crushes the cigarette under his shoes. He asks me while gazing up at the sky, "I thought that you quit."

"I did. But it's a special occasion, isn't it?" I answer.

He laughs quietly to himself and nods his head. "I guess I'll head off first. You'll see me come right when they say the groom should be walking in."

"I'll look for you." I wave him off. Little did I know, the spade engraved onto my bike had been violated with a scratch through the heart. I wave for a cab to stop and give the directions to the old man driving. The wedding was to take place at a lavish chapel on the northern end of Tokyo. The man came to an abrupt stop and told me that I was at my destination. I give the man a twenty dollar bill and tell him to keep the change.

I could never forget the feeling of pique when I saw the bride-to-be and her possible lover locking lips with each other. His large hands ran from the top of her shoulders and stopped just before her tush. I knew that she was disloyal to Hiroshi but I hadn't thought that they'd put such a show of sin in a respectable place. "Mornin' Mika-chan. And you're?" I keep a vacuous expression as to not hint them of what I had laid eyes on.

"Morning, _sexy_," she whispers. "This is Cain. He's good friend from high school," she continues to go on incessantly about how they met. Cain was a man of hulking structure. His large muscles were greatly visible from the fitted suit. His hair was brown with an awkward white streak through the right side of it. He easily would have crushed my body had he felt like it. His eyes were blood-shot as if he had been drinking into the morning.

"I suggest you better get up there on the alter. 'Roshi should be getting here in a little. Shall we be getting to our seats, Cain?" I said.

"I guess I should," she answers. She made a move to kiss my cheek, but I put my hand up and reminded her of the ring still gracing my ring finger on my dominant hand. She returns my action with a whimsical pout.

"Sure. There's a couple of seats near the front reserved for us." He answers. His voice was gruff with the darkness of a devil plotting. His eyes look at me with contempt and saunter off ahead of me.

I noticed that every one of the seats were reserved for one person or another. The turgid script belonged to Mika that covered all of the seating arrangements, although I noticed that my seat and only mine had Hiroshi's simplistic script. I took the paper from the seat and settle it into my back pant pocket. Cain took his seat next to mine and started to rapidly text on his phone, uncaring of the fact that I was there.

The minister starts to call the the bride and her father down the alter. She glows with luxury and each step was matched with unparalleled ease. Compared to Nana, even though she had been a calm person was not this at ease on our wedding day. Maybe it was because our future was grim despite the promise I mad to her. Mika had everything set out for her. This was just another grand party that meant nothing to her. Hiroshi was just another fling that had been fooled by her. When they called the groom, the room was so silent that you'd be able to hear a pin drop. The minister clears his throat and called once again. "Will Yagyuu Hiroshi please step into the room?"

An explosive sound boomed into the chapel. There was one crash after another. The instant that it ended, I dash out of the chapel. The guests didn't know whether or not to follow but eventually did. The moment that I had opened up the colossal doors; I saw the wasteland that haunt my dreams every night. There were ambulances, police cars and blood flying everywhere. I caught a glimpse of my motorcycle in the mess of it all. I jump into the wasteland and dash over to where I thought Hiroshi to be. I collapse onto the ground when I see the amount of blood painted onto the motorcycle. There were no tears dripping from my eyes.

I look up when I feel a hand resting on my shoulder. It was Hiroshi. His left hand was in a makeshift cast of cloth. There was a large band-aid running down his chest, but he was standing there in front of me in one piece. "Ya bastard!" I lung at him. I throw my fist as hard as I can at his uninjured shoulder.

He catches my hand and pulls me into a hug. He said, "I know. I know I'm a bastard. But I'm alive aren't I?"

"You're late for your wedding, you know?"

"Yeah. I was thinking of just skipping out. Sorry about your motorcycle by the way." He threw the smirk that I was always giving him after he reprimanded me. "But I'm here now, so I think Mika won't mind too much. She's always looking for a guy with a little danger in him. Probably explains why she's so fond of you."

"Still worrying about others before yourself?"

Hiroshi starts to walk towards the chapel. His steps are accompanied by a slight limp that only I could catch. There was a deafeningly loud boom in the air. The bullet had skid right past my cheek and went right through Hiroshi's chest. I turned around to catch a quick glimpse of the silver suit Cain was wearing. He tosses the gun carelessly in front of his truck, crushing it into millions of pieces and speeds off with Mika lying unconscious in the seat next to him.

I yelled with all of my heart. "Step into this city again ya bastard, and I'll make sure you never step out again!" I didn't bother to run after them, but rather to Hiroshi who was clutching at his chest. When I had made my way to him, his breathing was fast and scattered. Blood was beginning to pour from his lips as he coughs up more blood. His pupils were searching desperately for something until we made eye contact.

"Masa-," Hiroshi coughs again before he was able to finish his words. "It's Nana's birthday today, isn't it?"

"You're dying, and you still have the energy to tell me that?" I look at him in pure amazement.

"I don't regret dying and leaving Mika. Mika and I wouldn't have been happy together. I regret dying and leaving you behind. I promised Nana that I'd be there for you when she couldn't. I'll apologize to her. I'm sorry, take care Masaharu-kun." He was silent after this. I press his blood-soaked fingers to my cheek and wait as the tears drip violently onto Hiroshi's face. I try and hold back my voice, but I fail horribly. It seems like ages between that time and when the medics came over. But within that time, if I could have those seconds again, then I'd have been able to prevent this from happening. They remove me from his body harshly even though they knew that he was dead.

Autumn was another one of those months that I detested. All it brought was death and decay. Everywhere around me the leaves began to change from bright green into vibrant warm colors, while the plants began to wither into the wind.

Ten years later, I travel into the graveyard where they had buried Hiroshi. It had been eighteen years since Nana had been buried there. I think it might have been a coincidence that Hiroshi was right next to Nana. I originally planned to take that spot, but it was better that Hiroshi had something. After all, she was his younger sister. I wish that we had realized our love for each other sooner than when life let us. I'd have had much more time with her.

"Nana-chan, how are you? I know you can't answer, but you're okay, right?" I ask her out loud. Disregarding the other souls wandering around the desolate graveyard, I light up a cigarette. "I know I told you that I quit that day Hiroshi, but it's special occasion. I only ever smoke on this day each year. I dread this day each year, but I also can't wait for it."

I didn't notice it when two people dressed in turgid outfits walked up near me. The woman's hands were painted candy apple red, while the man had a vacuous expression on his face. I only turn in their direction when the woman reached forward to stroke Hiroshi's gravestone. I gave a dilatory pause before asking, "What are you doing?" I had a good prediction of who it was, but I just wanted to confirm it.

"Oh, isn't it by fortuitous chance that we're meeting here, _sexy_?" She drew on the last syllable just as she had done ten years ago. Her raven black hair was already starting to show signs of graying and the wrinkles at the edges of her eyes deepened when she smiled at me. "I didn't think you'd be out here."

"You haven't changed a bit, Mika," I said softly, trying not to make eye-contact. "Although, is that a new boy toy you've got there?"

"It actually is! Isn't he cute?" She clutches at his arm. He stood there uncomfortably staring at the ground.

"I guess so. He reminds me of 'Roshi though." I commented. "I know it's not my business, but what happened to Cain?"

"I found out what he did and kicked him out of my house. Can you believe that he was cheating on me with another woman?" She crosses her arms and looks at me expectantly. It was as if she thought I was going to give her pity for everything that she had been through.

The reason for Hiroshi's death was lingering at the tip of my tongue, but I decided not to spill it. Hiroshi wouldn't have wanted me to. "So where are you living now?"

"Why do you want to know? Are you going to come looking for me?" Her flirtatious face reared its ugly head once again.

"I was just wondering. You disappeared ten years ago."

"I was with Cain in Sapporo for a few years until I broke it off with him. Then I met Yuki here!" Yuki grabs Mika by the wrist and pulls her closer to his body. He whispered something into her ear that made her cover her mouth in shock. He began to walk off first. "I guess we'll see each other some other time. We've got a plane to catch over to Osaka that we can't miss!" She yelled to me before running after him. I watched them until they had disappeared into their chauffeured car and carelessly went off into the autumnal horizon.

I turned back to my loved ones' graves and crouched down onto the ground. "You, hear that Hiroshi? It seems like you were right about her." I found myself sitting on the ground in-between their gravestones. "You're better off dead anyway. I kind of feel bad for her new boyfriend. The guy doesn't know what he's gotten himself into."

I turned over to Nana's and stroked away the petals of the red poppies I'd placed there earlier. The grave was a pure white color with the writing a charcoal black. The grave read

Masaharu Nana

Wife of Niou Masaharu

Sister to Yagyuu Hiroshi

{2012 – 2032}

"We're all just lost souls looking for our place in the world. I was glad that I found mine beside Masaharu."

When I had finished reading it, I found myself crying for the first time in ten years. I thought that the tears had dried up; it turns out that they didn't and were just waiting for the right opportunity to flow out of my eyes. I didn't even bother to wipe them as they came out and just buried my face into my knees. I didn't care if anyone had walked by. I think that I had spent a good 15 minutes letting all my inhibitions out. The colossal weight on my shoulders that I carried each and every day had disappeared like the shadows of the wind. I picked myself off the ground and dusted my pants off, turning towards the graves I bowed deeply and smiled.

"Nana-chan, you're probably laughing at me in the afterlife, aren't you? You know, I still remember the promise that we said to each other before I left for the war. And I'm here to let you see it." I took the red string that she gave me years ago and tied it to hers that was given to me after I had come back from the war. I came back with the expectancy of seeing my wife standing and waiting for me by the airport. I didn't know until I reached my home that she was killed in a major traffic accident only two years after I left for the war. I wrapped it twice around my wrist and secured it on tightly. "I'll see you two next year and don't worry about me. I'll take care of myself."

When I threw my hand in the air as a quick wave, I felt a chill and little white flurries began to fall from the sky. Winter was my favorite season of the year. It covered all the death and decay with blankets of white. It gave everyone time to reflect on all the things that they had done and what they hadn't done. Winter was the season of giving rather than getting. It gave birth to Spring; my second favorite season of the year.

Spring gave birth and prosperity to all living things. Spring was too innocent of a season for the evils of the world to corrupt. Spring was when the third world war had ended. It was when the gunfire ended, the bombs gone and the tension broken into a million pieces. Spring made people realize how important it was to live than to kill.

Sometimes I think that I'm still a lost soul wandering around looking for my place in the world. I don't understand how I should live. I can't let go of my past; I can't accept my fate. I often find myself wondering if I'd be better off if I could just forget it all. But I think I've found a way to live without what I've lost. I'm going to accept everything that life throws at me, no matter how bad it might be because everything happens for a reason... whether it be good or bad.


End file.
